A1

Lord Shaw of Northstead: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the new A1 road, west carriageway, between Wetherby and Wakefield, was dug up and re-laid; what was the cost of this reconstruction; and whether a similar operation has been performed on the new east carriageway.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The northbound carriageway of the newly constructed A1(M) between Wetherby to Walshford was dug up and re-laid because of damage to the lower layers of the pavement during construction, resulting in the premature failure of the road surface. The cost of this work is a matter for and borne by the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) Company, Road Management Services Ltd, and its contractors. No additional costs will fall to the Highways Agency as a result of this failure. Further investigations on the southbound carriageway are being carried out to see whether similar repairs will be needed.

Asylum and Immigration:Legal Aid

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many firms of solicitors or law centres withdrew from legally aided asylum or immigration work in 2004 and 2005 to date.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: It is important that changes in the number of suppliers undertaking publicly funded asylum and immigration work are seen in the context of the significant reduction in asylum numbers. In the 2004–05 financial year, 68 firms, from a total of 480 performing publicly funded immigration and asylum work, withdrew from practice nationally, while 29 new firms commenced legal aid work in this field.
	In the 2005–06 financial year to date, 18 firms from a total of 441 have withdrawn, with two new firms commencing publicly funded work.

Cabinet Committees

Baroness Wilcox: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When each Cabinet committee last met.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Although the Government publish the title, membership and terms of reference of Cabinet committees, it has been the practice of successive governments not to disclose when they meet or the details of their proceedings, including the date they meet.

Civil Service Appeal Board

Baroness Wilcox: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many appeals have been heard by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the past eight years.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Details of the number of appeals heard by the Civil Service Appeal Board in each of the past eight years can be found in Appendix 7 of the board's annual report. Copies are available in the Library of the House or on the Civil Service Appeal Board website at www.civilserviceappealboard.gov.uk/publications/index.asp.
	The annual report for 2004–05 is not due to be published until later in the year.

Data Protection: National Consumer Council

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will respond to the recommendations of the National Consumer Council to strengthen the data protection laws, as reported in the Financial Times on 14 June.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: The recommendations of the National Consumer Council, for enhanced data protection laws, as set out in the Financial Times article, represent a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the important area of how best to protect individuals' personal data in an environment of increasing technological change. I have asked my officials to meet the NCC to explore further its thinking in this area. We are aware of the many challenges—and opportunities—that changing technology brings and work is taking place, both in the UK and at a European level to assess the implications of new technology. We are also working closely with the Information Commissioner to consider the extent to which the UK data protection regime provides an appropriate level of regulatory control.

Discrimination Law Review

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:What Civil Service support is being provided for the discrimination law review.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Baroness Crawley: A team is in place in the Women and Equality Unit in the DTI to lead the discrimination law review, reporting to the Deputy Minister for Women and Equality. Building on the model developed for the work to establish the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights, this team will be working closely with officials in other key government departments including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional Affairs and in the devolved administrations.

Economic Growth and Road Traffic

Lord Roberts of Conwy: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether there has been a correlation over the past decade between economic growth and growth in road traffic; and, if so, what it is.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Research tends to indicate that in the past few decades a 1 per cent increase in incomes has led to an increase in road traffic of about 1 per cent However, there is evidence that the link between economic growth and road traffic has weakened in recent years.

Electoral Register

Lord Norton of Louth: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the estimated annual cost of preparing and publishing the opted-out version of the electoral register; and what is the annual income from the sale of the register.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: This information is not collected centrally. The electoral register is compiled by electoral registration officers (EROs) appointed by local authorities for this purpose and any record of actual costs of production and income from sales would be retained locally. Following consultation with EROs, the fees for the sale of the edited ("opted-out") and full versions of the register were set out in the Representation of the People (Amendment) Regulations 2002 as follows: in data form, at the rate of £20 plus £1.50 for each 1,000 entries, and in printed form at £10 plus £5 for each 1,000 entries. The fees are set on the basis of cost covering, and not on a profit-making basis.

Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will provide an explanation of the formula contained in the box in Section 6(6)(a) of the Electricity (Standards of Performance) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/1019).

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: Under the guaranteed standard of performance for supply restoration following severe weather the time at which customers are entitled to compensation depends on the scale of the event. For medium-size events, customers are entitled to compensation once they have been off supply for 24 hours. For large weather events, customers are entitled to compensation once they have been off supply for 48 hours.
	For very large events consultation with the industry suggested that the restoration times that could reasonably be expected increased more than proportionally with the size of the event. Some companies suggested that a square factor was more representative. Therefore the period is calculated using the following formula:
	48 hours x ( Number of customers affected 35% of customers ) 2
	For any given distribution company the number of exposed customers is the number of customers supplied from mixed or overhead high-voltage circuits that may be affected by severe weather. For example, there are 270,000 exposed customers for WPD South-West.
	Suppose severe gales lead to 300,000 customers being interrupted in the WPD South-West area. The period when compensation is due will be:
	48 hours x ( 300,000 270,000)= 59 hours.
	The formula reflects the impact of the scale of such events on reasonable restoration times.
	Events are excluded from the arrangements where more than 60 per cent of exposed customers are affected in any distributor's area. Sixty per cent of exposed customers for an average distributor is 500,000 customers.
	If there were no limit on the severity of weather covered by these arrangements, it is feasible that, for a very extreme event (such as the October 1987 storms), total compensation could run to many millions of pounds. The price control proposals cap each distributor's cost exposure to 2 per cent of revenue, so any compensation costs in excess of this would be passed through to customers. Without a limit on the size of event covered, an extremely severe storm could result in a significant rise in distribution charges in a subsequent year and substantial cross-subsidy between urban and rural customers.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Equality and Human Rights Commission will be subject to judicial review of the way in which it performs its statutory duties and exercises its statutory powers.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: Yes, it will.

Lord Birt

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Davies of Oldham on 7 June (WA 62), whether the Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser, the Lord Birt, was notified in advance of the public announcement that Mr Rod Eddington was to become a government adviser on transport policy from September 2005.

Lord Davies of Oldham: I refer the noble Lord to my Answer of 7 June 2005. I have nothing further to add to my earlier statement.

M2/A299 Roadworks

Lord Astor of Hever: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When the roadworks at the junction of the M2 and the A299 are scheduled to finish; and
	Whether any traffic management plan has been put in place during the period of the road works at the junction of the M2 and the A299.

Lord Davies of Oldham: There are two phases of traffic management during the works at the junction of the M2 and the A299. The first phase, from 1 June 2005 to 23 July 2005, closes the hard shoulder in both directions to allow work to be carried out safely on the road verge.
	The second phase, from 24 July 2005 to 19 August 2005, will open the hard shoulder to traffic while closing lane two on both carriageways. Again, this is to allow safe working in the central reserve.
	The traffic flows at the junction show that only one running lane is essential. Since one running lane will be provided in both directions at all times, delays as a result of the traffic management are unlikely. This has been confirmed by observation during the period of working.

McKinsey and Co.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) whether McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out any work for the Department of Health; (b) how many projects the firm has carried out for the department during each year in the past five years; (c) for each project, how long such work lasted and how many McKinsey and Company employees were involved; (d) what was the nature of the contracts with the company; and (e) what was the total value of payments made by the department to McKinsey and Company Incorporated in each of the past five years.

Lord Warner: McKinsey and Company is currently working on one project with the Department of Health, advising the Commercial Advisory Board on its role. This work is ongoing. McKinsey have also carried out a further four projects over the past two years in addition to the current one on behalf of the department. The projects were:
	facilitating an NHS research and development workshop;
	best practice commissioning;
	assessing the impact of United Kingdom health system reform on clinical quality; and
	international PbR.
	The number of employees involved and the length of time for each piece of work is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The nature of the contracts was to provide strategic advice on emerging trends in the changes in the UK health environment. The fees paid in the past five financial years to date are set out in the table. Monitor, the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, is providing a separate Answer so the amounts as follows do not include work relating to them.
	
		
			 Financial Year Amount 
			 2001–02 £0 
			 2002–03 £0 
			 2003–04 £0 
			 2004–05 £240,000 
			 2005–06 £74,625 paid as of 20/6/05

McKinsey and Co.

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	(a) Whether McKinsey and Company Incorporated is currently carrying out any work for the Department for Transport; (b) how many projects the firm has carried out for the department during each year in the past five years; (c) for each project, how long such work lasted and how many McKinsey and Company employees were involved; (d) what was the nature of the contracts with the company; and (e) what was the total value of payments made by the department to McKinsey and Company Incorporated in each of the past five years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The department was formed in May 2002 and has not engaged McKinsey and Company to carry out any work.

NHS Professionals

Baroness Noakes: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 20 June (WA 152), whether they will describe what kind of new status is envisaged for the NHS Professionals special health authority; and whether the new status will result in the body being classified in the public or private sector; and
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 20 June (WA 152), whether NHS Professionals will make a profit when it has taken on a new status; and on what basis it is expected that NHS Professionals will trade with the National Health Service.

Lord Warner: The future status of NHS Professionals is yet to be determined.

North Middlesex and Whittington Hospitals

Lord Harris of Haringey: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What were the reasons for the breakdown of computer systems in the North Middlesex Hospital and the Whittington Hospital during June 2005; how many other National Health Service sites were affected; what were the implications for patient safety; and what lessons have been learned for information services in the National Health Service.

Lord Warner: This is a local matter for the North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust and the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust.

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust

Lord Harris of Haringey: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust is following the Department of Health's guidelines on whistle-blowing.

Lord Warner: We understand the North West London Hospitals NHS Trust has a whistle-blowing policy that was introduced in November 2002. The policy, in line with Department of Health guidance, is published and available to all staff. We are advised that there have been no recent cases of staff invoking the policy; however, if it were invoked, it would be followed by the trust.
	The Government expect a climate of openness and dialogue in the National Health Service which encourages all staff to be able to raise concerns about healthcare matters in a reasonable and responsible way without fear of victimisation.
	Previously, in August 1999, the department issued strong guidance (Health Service Circular 1999/198 The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998—Whistle-blowing in the NHS) to all NHS trusts and health authorities, on whistle-blowing. This guidance is in line with the requirements of the Public Disclosure Act 1998, which gives significant statutory protection to employees who disclose information in the public interest and are victimised for doing so. The Act covers all employees, including trainees, agency staff, home workers and all self-employed NHS professionals that is doctors, dentists, optometrists and pharmacists.
	In July 2003, the department issued a pack called So Long Silence to help all NHS trusts develop and implement sound whistle-blowing policies.

Property: North-west England

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On what grounds they have determined to overrule the recommendations of a public inquiry in the north-west of England not to permit the compulsory purchase and demolition of properties.

Baroness Andrews: There have been no compulsory purchase orders in recent years in the north-west of England where the recommendation of an inspector not to permit the demolition of properties has been overruled by my right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister, the First Secretary of State.

Road Repair Funding

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many local authorities in England and Wales have not spent the funds allocated for road repairs.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Funding for most significant road repairs in English local highway authorities outside London is provided through indicative capital allocations in the local transport plan settlement. These allocations are not ring fenced, and authorities may spend them for any capital purpose. Routine maintenance, street lighting, winter maintenance, and minor running repairs are funded through the FSS (formula spending share) element of revenue support grant. These allocations are also not ring fenced.
	In the latest year for which spending figures are available, 2002–03, 12 out of the 117 English local highway authorities outside London did not spend all their indicative capital allocation for road repairs.
	Road maintenance in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly, and in London it is a matter for the Greater London Assembly.

Road Traffic Accidents

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Of the 3,508 people killed in road accidents in 2003, how many were killed on (a) motorways, and (b) rural roads; and how many were caused by (i) drink drivers, and (ii) those on drugs.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Of the 3,508 people killed in road accidents in 2003, 217 were killed in accidents on the motorway and 2,065 were killed on rural roads.
	It is provisionally estimated that there were 560 fatalities as a result of accidents where at least one driver was over the legal alcohol limit.
	Equivalent estimates of fatalities in road accidents where the use of legal or illegal drugs was a contributory factor are not available, because routine accident reports do not currently record such factors. However under a pilot scheme, information on contributory factors to road accidents has been collected by 15 police forces. The influence of drugs was considered a contributory factor in about 3 per cent. of fatal accidents recorded under this pilot scheme in both 2002 and 2003.

Sudan: Darfur

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Darfur represents an invitation to every jihadist in the region to go there, as stated by Mr Chris Mullin MP, when Minister responsible for Africa, in an interview on Panorama in November 2004.

Lord Triesman: The government of Sudan, Khartoum activists, and various tribal groups and community leaders in Darfur have all made clear their opposition to the deployment of western forces there. But the parties are, on the whole, co-operating well with the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur. The AU is doing a good job in maintaining and building the confidence of the parties. To this end we are providing almost £32 million to the AU mission. We do not believe there is a need for a NATO peacekeeping force, nor is there any support for this from other African or NATO governments.

Tax Credits: Overpayments

The Earl of Listowel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their estimate of the number of families that have experienced severe hardship as a result of recovery of overpaid tax credits.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: HMRC's code of practice 26, What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit? explains that where claimants have been paid too much they will normally be expected to pay back the overpayment. However, it also describes a number of measures to protect against hardship being caused by the recovery of an overpayment.
	First, when a person's circumstances change, the revenue will adjust the payments for the remainder of the year with the aim of paying them the right amount over the year as a whole. This can sometimes lead to a considerable reduction in payments for the rest of that year. HMRC can make additional tax credit payments to prevent this reduction causing hardship. In 2003–04, the Revenue made additional tax credits payments to around 32,500 claimants. In the period 2004–05, HMRC made additional tax credits payments to around 10,000 claimants. Secondly, where someone has an overpayment for a previous tax year, HMRC will, where possible, recover it by deduction from the tax credit payments for the current year. There are automatic limits on the amounts that will be deducted from payments, and these are designed to prevent hardship.
	Where there is no award in the current year, the claimant will receive a "notice to pay" which explains that they can pay back the overpayment in 12 monthly instalments if they wish. In around 153,000 direct recovery cases, HMRC has agreed that customers can pay back their overpayment in 12 monthly instalments. It has also agreed that around 20,000 customers can pay in instalments over a longer period.